Grain-separator.



PATENTED MAY 9, 1905.

I. A. BUTCHER. GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 No. 789,208. PATENTED MAY 9,1905.

I.A.BUTGHER. GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1903.

2 SHBETSSHEET 2.

GhxucmToz NiTED STATES Patented May 9, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

IRA A. BUTCHER, OF HENNESSEY, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY, ASSIGNOR TO LEWIS H. LIVINGSTON AND W. M. SASHER, OF HENNESSEY,

OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

GRAlN-SEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,203, dated May 9, 1905.

Application 11811 September 12, 1903. Serial No. 172,942.

To a, w/wm/ it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, IRA A. BUTCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hennessey, in the county of Kingfisher and Territory of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful (nrrain-Separator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to that class of separators described in a previous patent granted to Lewis H. Livingston (with myself as assignee of a one-half interest) on November 11, 1902, and numbered 713,229.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a novel combination of elements which will more thoroughly separate the grain from the straw and pass the latter rapidly from the straw-carrier without causing it to clog or otherwise obstruct the efiicient action of the separating mechanism.

Another object is to provide a separating device which will more thoroughly act upon the material, the construction of the same also serving to direct said material to the fans. In connection therewith there is employed means for permitting the passage of the grain to the grain-pan, said means being adjustable to conform to the condition and kind of material being acted upon.

is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and is described in the following specification. It will be understood, however, that various changes may be made from the structure set forth without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, all of which will be.

evident by an inspection of the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a machine embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through a portion of the same. Fig. 3 1s a detail perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the grate employed. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through the screenbed. Fig. 5-is a side elevation of one of the fan-heads. Fig. 6 is a sectional View through the same. Fig. 7 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale,thr0ugh the separating device employed in connection with the screen-bed. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a portion of the same.

Similar reference-numerals indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlngs.

In the embodiment herewith illustrated the usual casing 10 is employed, having at its front end threshing mechanism in the form of a cylinder 11 and a concave 12, said cylinder and concave being provided with teeth 13. Located in rear of the concave and in aslightlyhigher plane is a concave screen-bed comprising curved plates 14 and 15, having openings 16 therethrough. The plate 14: is rigidly secured within the casing of the machine, and the plate 15 is slidably mounted against its under face. To this end said plate 14 has secured thereto cleats 17, forming guideways 18, in which the plate 15 is slidably mounted. This plate 15 is therefore movable, and in order to actuate the same a rock-shaft 19 is journaled in the machine and is provided with an exposed handle 20. The rock-shaft carries crank-arms 21, which are connected with links 22 to depending cars 23, projecting from and beneath the plate 15. It will thus be seen that by actuating the handle 20 the plate 15 can be moved andthe openings 16 also moved into and out of alinement with each other. Thus said openings may be contracted as desired.

The front end of the screen-bed is spaced from the rear end of theconcave 12, and bridging the space is a grate comprising spaced bars 25, located on the edge and having journals 26 at their ends, revolubly mounted in side rails 27, fastenedv to the opposite sides of the machine-casing. The grate is thus ad justable and thebars thereof are moved through the medium of a rock-shaft 28, journaled in the frame and having an exposed. handle 29. This rock-shaft is also provided with crank-arms 30, to which are secured links 31, said links having pivotal connection with depending fingers 32, attached to the various grate-bars. The grate is located at a comparatively steep inclination, and by moving the handle 29 it will be apparent that the bars will be rocked so as to contractor enlarge the spaces between them.

Coacting with the screen-bed and located above the same is a revoluble separating device consisting of a shaft 33, journaled. transversely of the machine-casing and carrying fingers the detailed construction of which is clearly illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. These fingers are arranged in sets and consist of outstanding portions 34, having offset terminals 35 disposed longitudinally of the shaft and slightly inclined with relation to the axis thereof. The free ends of the portions 35 are located closer to the shaft than the ends attached to the outstanding portions, and the fingers of each set are bent in opposite directions. In the preferred manner of securing the fingers to the shaft each finger is provided with a curved section 36, constituting a clamp element and in which the shaft fits. These sections thus embrace the shaft and are secured together by'bolts 37, all of which is illustrated in said Figs. 7 and 8. The fingers extend in opposite directions from the center of the shaft toward the ends thereof, the inner sets being preferably overlapped. The separating device as thus constructed is completely inclosed, with the exception of its ends, by means of a partition 38, extending from the rear end of the screen-bed in a continuous curve over the separating device and to a point between the same and thethreshingcylinder, where it is attached to or abuts against a depending stop-wall 39.

The ends of the inclosure for the separating device are in the form of fan-casings 40, having their inlet-openings 41 located at the ends of said device and being provided with discharge-spouts 42, extending rearwardly and in the upper portion of the machine-casing. Preferably the free ends of the outer fingers extend through the inlet-openings 41, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Within the fan-casings and carried by the shaft 33 are fans each comprising a disk head 43, located contiguous to the outer casing-wall and spaced from the adjacent end of the separating device. These heads are provided with radially disposed flanges 44, to which are attached fan-blades 45, that are curved in the manner shown and are interposed between the head and the separating-fingers, the inner ends of the blades preferably inclining rearwardly toward the shaft.

A straw carrier or raddle 46 extends from beneath the discharge-spouts of the fan-casings toward the rear end of the machine, said earrier'preferably consisting of the usual endless slatted belt running over pulleys 47, carried by transverse shafts 48. Above this carrier and in rear of the discharge-spouts of the casings is a revoluble beater 49, that is located directly in the blast from both fans and is adapted to deflect the straw downwardly upon the carrier. Suitably secured to the casing between the discharge-spouts 42 and the ends of the beater are deflector-boards 50, The usual pan 51 and grain-cleaning shoe 52 are employed in connection with the mechanism, a fan 53 coacting with the latter in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art.

While any desired means may be employed for driving the several elements, there is indicated a preferred combination consisting of an endless belt 54, passing about a pulley 55 on the cylinder, another, 56, on the shaft of the lower fan 53, about a pulley 57, attached to the projecting end of the shaft 33, and around another pulley, 58, secured to the beater-shaft.

The operation of the structure is substantially as follows: The material from the th reshing-cylinder and concave will pass over the grate in rear of the same, where the loose grain can gravitate to the grain-pan, this separation being controlled by the adjustment of the grate-bars. After such passage the material is struck by the rapidly revolving fingers of the separating device. It is well known that the threshing mechanism will often loosen the kernels in theheads, but will not remove the same. The peculiar arrangement of the fingers will strike glancing blows to said head, and thus thoroughly remove the grain therefrom. At the same time it will separate the flow into two parts and because of the oblique arrangement move the same toward the end of the separating device. The curved partition in a structure of this kind is advantageous, as it prevents the lodgment of the straw upon the samea very great disadvantage to angularly-disposed walls. The material will be rapidly revolved within the compartment and, as already stated, moved toward the fans. At the same time the grain removed from the straw will drop through the bed and onto the grain-pan, this separation being also controlled by the adjustment of said bed. The straw will therefore in turn be caught by the fans at the ends of the separating device and be discharged from the rear ends of the fan-casings. The particular construction of the fans affords rapid-feeding facilities and because of the heads 43 there is no danger of the straw becoming packed between the fan-blades and the outer walls of the casing, thus interfering with the efiicient action of the same. The discharging straw carried by the blasts from the fans will strike the beater, being deflected toward the center of the same by the elements 50, which also serves to prevent the entrance of straw between the ends of the beater and the casingwalls. This beater will deposit the material upon the carrier, from whence it will be moved to the stacker.

It will be apparent that the machine has many features of novelty and has also decided advantages in that it is especially adaptable to rapid threshing, for the reason that the material while being passed rapidly through the mechanism will be subjected to separating action throughout such passage. The construction of the bednamely, the employment of a sheet-metal plate instead of a bar-grating is very advantageous, as it prevents the straw lodging upon the same. It will also be observed that this'very serious objection is overcome throughout the various steps of separation, so that all danger of choking the machine is avoided.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, and many advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a grain-separator, the combination with threshing mechanism, of separating means located in rear of the same, a fan receiving the material from the separating mechanism and discharging rearwardly, a heater located in the discharge-blast of the fan, and a deflector interposed between the fan and the beater. I

2. In a grain-separator, the combination with a threshing-cylinder and concave, of a screen-bed located in rear of the same, a rotary separating device coacting with the screen-bed, fans having their inlets arranged at the ends of the rotary separating device and being provided with rearwardly-extending discharge-spouts, a straw-carrier located beneath said spouts, a rotary beater extending across in rear of the spouts, and deflectors located at the ends of the beater and deflecting the straw inwardly toward the center thereof.

3. In a grain-separator, the combination with a threshing-cylinder and concave, of a concave screen-bed disposed in rear of the threshing-concave and comprising a stationary and a movable se'ction each provided with openings that are movable into and out of alinement upon the relative movement of the sections, a curved partition extending from the upper rear portion of the stationary section over the bed to a point substantially above the threshing-concave, a shaft arranged between the screen-bed and the partition, a rearwardlydischarging fan carried by the shaft, and inclined fingers also mounted on the shaft above the screen-bed, said fingers projecting toward the fan and extending inwardly and at an inclination to the axis of said shaft.

4. In a grain-separator, the combination with a threshing-cylinder and concave, of a concave screen-bed located in rear of the same, means for varying the size of the openings through said screen-bed, an adjustable grate interposed between the rear end of the threshing-concave and the front end of the concavebed, fan-casings disposed at the ends of the screen-bed and having rearwardly-extending discharge-spouts, a shaft located over the screen-bed, fans carried by the shaft and located in the fan-casings, oppositely-extending fingers mounted on the shaft for delivering material to the fans, a straw-carrier disposed in rear of the screen-bed and above the discharge-spouts, and a heater arranged in rear of the discharge-spouts and above the carrier.

5. In a grain-separator, the combination with a threshing-cylinder and concave, of a concave screen-bed located in rear of the cylinder, said bed comprising slidably-associated plates having openings that are movable into and out of alinement, means for moving one of the plates, a revoluble separating device journaled above and coacting with the bed, and an adjustable grate disposed between the threshing-concave and bed, said grate comprising spaced bars journaled at their ends and means for moving the bars.

6. In a grain-separator, the combination with a threshing-cylinder and concave, of a concave screen-bed located in rear of the same and having openings therethrough, means for varying the size of the-openings, an adjustable grate located between the concave and bed, a curved partition extending from the rear end of the bed over the same and toward the cylinder, a rcvoluble separating device journaled above the bed and beneath the partition, fans located at the ends of the separating device and discharging rearwardly, a straw-carrier located beneath the discharges of the fans, and a beater located above the straw-carrier and in the paths of said discharges.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

IRA A. BUTCHER.

Witnesses A. W. W ES'ILAKE, G. W. BEAR. 

